Kelly was stressed, says daughter

Dr David Kelly turned pale at the mention of the name of British Prime Minister Tony Blair's powerful communications chief, Alastair Campbell, the scientist's daughter has revealed.

Rachel Kelly, 30, told the Hutton inquiry of the crushing effect on her father of the pressure he was under after he admitted meeting BBC reporter Andrew Gilligan.

She spoke of a walk with her father in the Oxfordshire countryside on June 28, the weekend before Dr Kelly was named. By then, bosses at the Ministry of Defence had interviewed him once about what he had told the reporter and had reprimanded him.

The Hutton inquiry is investigating the circumstances surrounding Dr Kelly's apparent suicide on July 17, a few days after he was revealed by the Defence Ministry as the anonymous source of a BBC report that alleged the Government had "sexed up" last September's Iraq dossier. Ms Kelly told the inquiry on Monday that the walk was the first time she had become "extremely concerned" about her father.

She asked if his poor mood was linked to the row raging between Mr Campbell and the BBC. "On our way back I asked him if the situation in the media about Alastair Campbell was affecting him and his reaction alarmed me greatly. It was not that he jumped, but... he said no and he added 'not really', and I felt that I had intruded and he was very quiet, very pale and he just seemed to have the world's pressures on his shoulders. He seemed under severe stress."

She told the inquiry: "My heartfelt wish is that as a result of your inquiry, my lord, that people will learn from the circumstances surrounding my father's death and show more compassion and kindness in future to those around them."